“Will you be interested in bringing a feminine touch and some pretty décor to our home?”
“Yes, I think I can do that. But I’m surprised that Mrs. Castern didn’t do that when she was your fiancée.”
“That would have been inappropriate. She was never once in this house.”
“Was it only in the country when you and Mr. Castern were together, composing and playing duets, with Mrs. Castern lounging around, enjoying the spectacle? It sounded almost as though such entertainment went on in an endless daily and nightly party. Not unlike when Mrs. Shelley wrote her famed story in the company of her husband and Lord Byron during their Swiss summer. That, too, sounded like a constant state of amusement.”
Vincent was flummoxed. “I have no idea to what you are referring. Who told you this?”
Brilliance appeared dumbfounded. “I assure you it is quite common knowledge. I even know that Lord Byron’s physician was there. And I have readFrankensteintwice.”
He barked out a laugh at her misunderstanding. “I meant, who told you that Ambrose and I composed together with Lydia,beforeshe became his wife, lounging in our company?”
“Shedid. In the ladies’ retiring room last night.”
“What she told you is blatantly untrue. I compose alone. I assume Ambrose, if he ever writes anything of his own, does the same.”
“Then she was not stating facts. She was lying to hurt me,” Brilliance mused.
“I promise you that she was. When we were at Harrow, Ambrose and I occasionally met to practice piano in the common music room, and when he visited my country estate,which he often did because I had no idea what a snake he was, we often enjoyed playing for one another. But Lydia was never there.”
Vincent suddenly recalled a singular event.
“Wait a moment. I want to be entirely truthful. There was one time when Mrs. Castern, at the time Miss Lydia Drummond, was staying with my cousin. We were engaged, and she visited me at Joyden’s Wood.”
Brilliance visibly stiffened.
“I swear it was not like when you came. Lydia had her mother as chaperone, and Lady Twitchard and the Colonel were there, too. And so was Ambrose. I think that was the second time they had run into each other, for I first introduced them in London. In any case, he and I did some silly duet, and she was in the room. We both came up with a solo part and then made everyone laugh as we managed to play them at each end of the scale at the same time.”
Brilliance nodded. “That would certainly be memorable, but hardly what she described, which seems to have been a gross exaggeration.”
Glancing down at her lap, Vincent noticed she was wringing her hands, and he took hold of them.
“What more do you wish to know?”
“How did they become close?”
He was surprised to experience not even a twinge of discomfort as he considered their betrayal. What he felt was relief at having escaped marriage with Lydia so that he was free to be with Brilliance.
“After that evening, I remained at Joyden’s Wood. A few days later, Lydia returned to London. I believe they took up with one another at that time. I had met her the year prior and asked her to be my wife after ... I believe it was six months. Yet only amonth after we became engaged, she announced she’d fallen in love with him. It was befuddling and vexing.”
Brilliance smiled again.
“Why does that make you smile?”
“Because of how long it took for you to askherto marry you.Wewere close to an engagement after only two weeks in the country.”
His beautiful betrothed was correct. Ignoring the maid, he dropped a kiss on her lips. “You are nothing like her. From the start, your helpful, sweet nature shone through. And I saw it clearly as soon as I stopped being afraid of opening my heart. Loving you is as easy as playing the scales.”
“I don’t find that to be easy.”
“For me, it is child’s play,” he assured her, bringing one of her hands to his lips for a nuzzling kiss.
But her happy mood seemed to dissipate as quickly as it had come.
“Did Mrs. Castern also lie when she said you were stopping the lawsuit?”
Vincent took a deep breath. “No. And if her disclosure had cost me your good regard, it would have been ironic, indeed. I withdrew my suit because I didn’t want to wait for us to be together. I have no doubt that Ambrose would have dragged your name through the dirt to protect his income and his own good reputation.”
